Lifting-jack



(No Model.)

S S. B. & J. F. RITTENHOUSE.

LIFTING JAGK No. 594,967. Patented Dec. 7,1897.

' WITNESSES "INVENTORS 5% Emma My a/ndlJa/nm Treonm Ema 06 08 @L 6: 626;. flier/56m Allomey.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..-

sILAs B. RITTENHOUSE AND JAMES FREEMAN RITTENHOUSE, or LIBERTY MILLS, INDIANA.

LlFTING-JACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,967, dated December 7, 1897.

Application filed March 8, 1897. Serial No. 626,372. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,SILAs B. RITTENHOUSE and J AMES FREEMAN RITTENHoUsE, citizens of the United States, residing at Liberty Mills,

in the county of Wabash and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lifting-Jacks, of which the following is a specificatiom'reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

IO Our invention relates to lifting jacks mainly intended for lifting the axles of vehicles; and the objects of our improvement are to provide a lifting-jack strong and durable and also of simple and inexpensive construction adapted to befolded into a small package for transportation. YVe attain these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of a lifting- 2o jack constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same with its lifting-beam locked in a raised position. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the same. Fig.

- 4: is a side View of the same in a folded posi- 2 5 tion ready for shipment or transportation.

In said drawings, A represents a shoe-beam, having the under side of its front end rounded to permit it to be easily slid forward on the ground. To the rear portion of the sides of 0 said beam are pivoted two parallel standards B by means of a bolt 1), passing through their lower ends and through said beam. On top of the front end of the beam A is secured a short standard a, to which the forward end 3 5 of the lifting-beam O is pivotally hinged by means of a bolt 0, passing vertically through them. The hole 0"", through which said bolt passes in the beam 0, is wider in its lower end to permit the rounded bottom of the end of 0 said beam to be rocked on top of the beam A.

The upper edge of the lifting-beam has a series of steps d, as usual, to provide horizontal rests thereon.

To the rear portion of the lifting-beam adjacent to its bottom edge is pivotally secured a hand-lever E by means of a steel pin f, passing through the front ends of the branches of the hand-lever and through one of a series of horizontal perforations g in the lifting-beam.

The front end of the hand-lever E has a long mortise made vertically therein to receive the rear portion of the lifting-beam C, so that the branches constituting the sides of said mortise will support said lifting-beam equally on both sides. The front portion of the hand-lever E is received between the standards B and is pivoted thereto upon a bolt 6, passing through horizontal perforations 5 in said standards and through said hand-lever.

The location of the pin f is such relatively to the pivot-bolt e of the hand-lever that when the free end of said lever is depressed to the position shown in Fig. 2 the pin f is in the rear of a perpendicular line passing 6 5- through the pivot-bolt e, andthe hand-lever becomes locked on account of the weight of the beam 0 pressing thereon particularly if a load is resting upon said beam.

The shoe-beam A has a series of holes a in its rear portion for the proper inclination of the beam 0, and the latter has also a series of holes g-for the reception of the pin f to lengthen or shorten the height of the rear end of the lifting-beam C to adjust it to the high or the low axle of wagons. Said height can also be adjusted by means of the series of holes 19 in the standards B. Said standards being pivoted to the sides of the shoe-beam A constitute therefor a wider base, so that the lifting-jack will readily remain standing on the ground or-on a floor. Each standard B has a recess 12 in the upper portion of its inner side to make room for the forked inner end of the hand-lever E; but the space 12 between the lower portions of the standards B is of less width than the bodyof the lever E, so that the latter cannot be jammed in or forced through said space I), and thus can be readily grasped at the moment that it is de- 0 sired to lower again awagon-axle. Furthermore, if the lever E is too suddenly released from the operators hand when it has nearly reached the elevated position shown in Fig. 1 it will not fly up any higher, or in the op- 5 erators face, as the under side of the liftingbeam will then rest upon the transverse bolt e, thus checking the descent of the front end of the hand-lever and the ascent of its rear end.

The advantage obtained from the forward :00 standard a for the lifting-beam O is that it elevates the latter and permits the upper face of each step d to be of comparatively great length for broad wagon-axles to rest upon securely. It also prevents the lifting-beam from being rocked back and forth (and also 5 the axle or body of the wagon lifted) under branches of the hand-lever, and adapted to support and constitute a rest for the bottom of tl1e1ifting-bean1,and a pin fpassing through the front ends of the branches of the handlever and through the lifting-beam, substantially as described.

2. In a lifting-jack, the combination of the shoe-beam, the lifting-beam having its front end provided with a tapering hole widerat the bottom, a bolt passing vertically through said hole and shoe-beam, two parallel standards hinged to the rear end of the shoe-beam and having their upper portions farther apart than their lower portions, the hand-lever E having its front end mortised lengthwise, the bolt 6 passing through the standards and through the branches of the hand-lever, and the pin f, passing through the front end of said branches and adj ustably through the lifting-beam substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signa: tures in presence of two witnesses.

SILAS B. RI'ITENHOUSE. JAMES FREEMAN RITTENIIOUSE.

Witnesses:

LENOIR M. ABBOTT, ALICE J. 000K. 

